Hello, fellow members of the Business Law Section, and welcome to the 2020-2021 bar year. Please permit me to begin the way I find myself beginning pretty much all written correspondence these days—with an expression of hope that you all are healthy and are navigating things safely and as cheerfully as possible!
It is again my honor to serve as Chair of the Section and to work with such an outstanding group of council members, committee co-chairs, and NCBA staff.
As always, it is our goal to make sure your Section membership comes with first-rate programming, activities, content, and other benefits—all with the overarching objective of enhancing your law practices and professional development. But as never before, this goal (like the goals and objectives of our firms and the clients we serve) is beset with steep challenges—those, of course, posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Businesshttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngBusiness2020-07-28 09:07:132020-08-12 17:30:46New Bar Year, New Challenges: A Message from the Chair
On July 7, 2020, several states and boards of education around the country filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of California challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s (“Department”) new Interim Final Rule (34 C.F.R. § 76.665) governing distribution of funds provided by Congress under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (“CARES” Act).[1]
The CARES Act was enacted in March of 2020 to, among other things, provide emergency relief to states and local government entities, including Local Education Agencies (“LEAs”) impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act requires that LEAs receiving funds under the CARES Act provide equitable services “in the same manner” as provided under section 1117 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (“ESEA”).[2]
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00EducationLawhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngEducationLaw2020-07-27 16:48:162020-08-12 17:32:12The CARES Act Carousel: States and LEAs Sue to Enjoin Implementation of Interim Final Rule Governing Distribution of COVID-19 Funds
The North Carolina Industrial Commission has recently revised its guidelines for In-Person Deputy Commissioner Hearings. Those guidelines can be found here. The revisions came after Chief Justice Beasley’s July 16, 2020, Order and Emergency Directive 21 related to face coverings in courthouses. The Emergency Directive requires all persons in a court facility to wear a face covering except in special circumstances. Please review these guidelines in detail if you have an upcoming In-Person Deputy Commissioner Hearing.
In a new landscape that is changing every minute, we are being forced to keep up, stay hypervigilant and quickly adapt. This is all a perfect recipe for burnout if we don’t become aware of the signs and symptoms before it’s too late. It can be tempting just to focus on what we can control, which for many of us is our work, and to pour ourselves into it without processing our mental and emotional stress. This can work in the short term, but in the long term, it is a recipe for burnout. If we do not heed the warning signs that our mind, body and emotions are sending us, we risk another pandemic, mass burnout.
I know the journey to burnout out well, but I am thankful that I also know the journey back. And I am here to tell you there is hope and another way not just to survive but to thrive. In 2013, I had just gone through a divorce and had a 2-year-old and a 7-year-old at home. I had just left my job as a prosecutor and opened my own law practice. I have epilepsy, and my seizures became more and more frequent, but I chalked that up to giving birth and hormones. And then, I started having panic attacks. I had no idea what they were. I truly thought I was going to die. Up until that point, I had nerves of steel. I could walk into a courtroom, look a murderer in the eye, and dismantle him on cross-examination. I could walk into a prison armed only with my skirt, high heels and a notepad without even flinching. Nothing had ever fazed me, but now, I was debilitated by panic attacks. I felt weak and stupid.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00NCBARBLOGhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngNCBARBLOG2020-07-24 14:43:272020-07-28 16:19:49Your Body Holds the Secrets to Avoiding Burnout
Art MacCord is a patent attorney with 40 years of experience. He keeps an eye on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office for new rules and practice tips of interest to intellectual property attorneys. Find his latest updates here:
NCBA IPL Section Blog News Blasts For July 21, 2020
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00IntellectualPropertyhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngIntellectualProperty2020-07-21 11:24:172020-08-12 17:26:03MacCord’s List: IP News & Notices From Art MacCord
Single-member LLCs and grantor trusts are both entities that exist for state law purposes but are disregarded for federal income tax purposes. These entities are commonly known as disregarded entities or DREs. The ownership of partnership interests by a disregarded entity creates the question of who the partner really is.
A limited liability company has great flexibility in federal and state tax treatment under Treas. Reg. § 1.7701-3. The default treatment of an LLC that has a single owner is for the LLC to be disregarded as an entity separate from its owner. So, who is the partner if a disregarded LLC owns a partnership interest? The IRS answered that in Rev. Rul. 2004-77, which confirms an entity disregarded under federal tax law is ignored under federal partnership law. Thus, the disregarded entity’s owner is treated as the partner.
Greetings, fellow members of the Construction Law Section, and welcome to the 2020-2021 bar year! It is my honor and privilege to serve as Chair this year and to work with an outstanding group of council members, committee co-chairs, and NCBA staff to reward your Section membership with top-notch programming, activities, content, and other benefits, all aimed at adding meaningful value to your law practices and professional development.
Like the clients and the industry that we serve, our Section will face unique challenges in the months ahead as North Carolina and the country at-large continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Those challenges include safely providing the same excellent CLE programming that has served as the cornerstone of our Section’s offerings each year. Toward that end, our CLE Committee is working diligently to transition its Summer 2020 program, originally scheduled for in-person presentation in Wilmington, to a webcast format. I urge all of you to mark your respective calendars for the Committee’s “Laying the Foundation, Brick by Brick” CLE webcast the afternoon of Thursday, September 24 and all day Friday, September 25. This not-to-be-missed “sticks-and-bricks” program will focus on a range of construction practices presented by industry experts as well as your Section cohorts, with sessions focused on zoning and other regulatory issues, civil and structural engineering, building envelope considerations, and much more (including Jay Wilkerson’s always anticipated case law update). Please watch this space for additional details soon. And since your calendars are now open, go ahead and mark Thursday, February 18, 2021, for our Winter CLE program and Annual Meeting, to be held in-person (fingers crossed!) at the Bar Center in Cary. Again, details to follow.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Constructionhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngConstruction2020-07-17 10:52:342020-08-12 17:23:41Happy New (Bar) Year, Construction Lawyers
I write to provide a few updates and red flags regarding plans for the upcoming school year in light of ongoing coronavirus spikes.
These updates are directly relevant to any education clients you currently have in your offices, and also to any other clients who may have school-aged children in the home.
Gov. Cooper has announced that the default plan for schools will be “Plan B,” which requires a hybrid in-person/remote plan to be created locally. This plan will enable districts and charter schools to operate at no more than 50% capacity whenever in-person instruction occurs.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00JuvenileJusticehttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngJuvenileJustice2020-07-16 12:14:492020-08-12 17:22:10Education Decisions in the Wake of COVID-19
Zac Bolitho is now of counsel with Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog LLP in Raleigh. He will practice with the White Collar & Criminal Defense Group. Prior to joining the firm, Bolitho was an Associate Deputy Attorney General and the Chief of Staff to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Bolitho serves as an Associate Professor of Law at Campbell Law School in Raleigh. He received a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from the University of Mount Union, and a Juris Doctorate, summa cum laude, from The Ohio State University.
Morningstar Law Group announced that Marie Farmer is now an associate attorney with the firm. She will practice in the Litigation Practice Group. Prior to Morningstar Law, Farmer was a legal fellow at the University of North Carolina’s Office of Legal Counsel. There, she offered litigation support and assisted in a variety of areas, including constitutional, healthcare, employment, and intellectual property law. Farmer obtained a Juris Doctorate from the University of North Carolina School of Law, and she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Law and Philosophy from the University of Florida.
Smith Anderson welcomes Mark Griffith, a corporate attorney, to the firm. Griffith will work with the Energy and Renewable Energy and M&A practice teams. He has significant experience in energy transactions, economic development and matters related to financial institutions. Prior to Smith Anderson, Griffith practiced with Troutman Sanders. He serves on the chamber of commerce and has taught a course on renewable energy transactions at UNC School of Law. Griffith graduated from the University of North Carolina, with honors, where he received a Bachelor of Arts, and from UNC School of Law, with honors, where he earned a Juris Doctorate.
Tomorrow, July 10, will be the first convening of the Governor’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, which I am co-chairing with Justice Anita Earls.
This Task Force has been created to examine our criminal justice system through a lens of racial equity. In North Carolina, we have long sought to improve our criminal justice system. Now, we have the opportunity—the imperative—to explicitly consider racial equity as we continue this effort.
The inequities that African Americans experience—whether it’s in the economy, health care, our schools, or the criminal justice system—are pervasive, just as they are wrong. Even today, African Americans are suffering death at a greatly disproportionate rate from COVID-19 due to longstanding inequities.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00CriminalJusticehttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngCriminalJustice2020-07-09 18:24:452020-08-12 17:20:39N.C. Marks an Important Moment for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice
New Bar Year, New Challenges: A Message from the Chair
Business LawBy Ben Baldwin
Hello, fellow members of the Business Law Section, and welcome to the 2020-2021 bar year. Please permit me to begin the way I find myself beginning pretty much all written correspondence these days—with an expression of hope that you all are healthy and are navigating things safely and as cheerfully as possible!
It is again my honor to serve as Chair of the Section and to work with such an outstanding group of council members, committee co-chairs, and NCBA staff.
As always, it is our goal to make sure your Section membership comes with first-rate programming, activities, content, and other benefits—all with the overarching objective of enhancing your law practices and professional development. But as never before, this goal (like the goals and objectives of our firms and the clients we serve) is beset with steep challenges—those, of course, posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more
The CARES Act Carousel: States and LEAs Sue to Enjoin Implementation of Interim Final Rule Governing Distribution of COVID-19 Funds
Education Law SectionOn July 7, 2020, several states and boards of education around the country filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of California challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s (“Department”) new Interim Final Rule (34 C.F.R. § 76.665) governing distribution of funds provided by Congress under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (“CARES” Act).[1]
The CARES Act was enacted in March of 2020 to, among other things, provide emergency relief to states and local government entities, including Local Education Agencies (“LEAs”) impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act requires that LEAs receiving funds under the CARES Act provide equitable services “in the same manner” as provided under section 1117 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (“ESEA”).[2]
Read more
Revised Guidelines for In-Person Deputy Commissioner Hearings
Workers' Compensation SectionThe North Carolina Industrial Commission has recently revised its guidelines for In-Person Deputy Commissioner Hearings. Those guidelines can be found here. The revisions came after Chief Justice Beasley’s July 16, 2020, Order and Emergency Directive 21 related to face coverings in courthouses. The Emergency Directive requires all persons in a court facility to wear a face covering except in special circumstances. Please review these guidelines in detail if you have an upcoming In-Person Deputy Commissioner Hearing.
Your Body Holds the Secrets to Avoiding Burnout
Featured PostsBy Alicia J. Journey
In a new landscape that is changing every minute, we are being forced to keep up, stay hypervigilant and quickly adapt. This is all a perfect recipe for burnout if we don’t become aware of the signs and symptoms before it’s too late. It can be tempting just to focus on what we can control, which for many of us is our work, and to pour ourselves into it without processing our mental and emotional stress. This can work in the short term, but in the long term, it is a recipe for burnout. If we do not heed the warning signs that our mind, body and emotions are sending us, we risk another pandemic, mass burnout.
I know the journey to burnout out well, but I am thankful that I also know the journey back. And I am here to tell you there is hope and another way not just to survive but to thrive. In 2013, I had just gone through a divorce and had a 2-year-old and a 7-year-old at home. I had just left my job as a prosecutor and opened my own law practice. I have epilepsy, and my seizures became more and more frequent, but I chalked that up to giving birth and hormones. And then, I started having panic attacks. I had no idea what they were. I truly thought I was going to die. Up until that point, I had nerves of steel. I could walk into a courtroom, look a murderer in the eye, and dismantle him on cross-examination. I could walk into a prison armed only with my skirt, high heels and a notepad without even flinching. Nothing had ever fazed me, but now, I was debilitated by panic attacks. I felt weak and stupid.
Read more
MacCord’s List: IP News & Notices From Art MacCord
Intellectual Property Law SectionArt MacCord is a patent attorney with 40 years of experience. He keeps an eye on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office for new rules and practice tips of interest to intellectual property attorneys. Find his latest updates here:
NCBA IPL Section Blog News Blasts For July 21, 2020
Copyright Office announces its 150th Anniversary Celebration Online, August 5, noon to 1 p.m. Eastern Time
https://locgov.webex.com/mw3300/mywebex/default.do?nomenu=true&siteurl=locgov&service=6&rnd=0.6368494839656456&main_url=https%3A%2F%2Flocgov.webex.com%2Fec3300%2Feventcenter%2Fevent%2FeventAction.do%3FtheAction%3Ddetail%26%26%26EMK%3D4832534b00000002a95a208a561b42eef3678ba3621370c92ad2e978f6c55543ece459dcfe3971bd%26siteurl%3Dlocgov%26confViewID%3D162890112486628650%26encryptTicket%3DSDJTSwAAAAItOURJ4WrlIib2ifGoET-eg-HhKGi_cuViLoxkepig0w2%26
USPTO announces COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Program for certain trademark and service mark applications
https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/TM-COVID-19-Prioritized-Examination.pdf
USPTO announces Fast-Track Patent Appeals Pilot Program
https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/uspto-announces-fast-track-appeals-pilot-program
Disregarded Entities and Partnerships
Tax SectionSingle-member LLCs and grantor trusts are both entities that exist for state law purposes but are disregarded for federal income tax purposes. These entities are commonly known as disregarded entities or DREs. The ownership of partnership interests by a disregarded entity creates the question of who the partner really is.
A limited liability company has great flexibility in federal and state tax treatment under Treas. Reg. § 1.7701-3. The default treatment of an LLC that has a single owner is for the LLC to be disregarded as an entity separate from its owner. So, who is the partner if a disregarded LLC owns a partnership interest? The IRS answered that in Rev. Rul. 2004-77, which confirms an entity disregarded under federal tax law is ignored under federal partnership law. Thus, the disregarded entity’s owner is treated as the partner.
Read more
Happy New (Bar) Year, Construction Lawyers
Construction Law SectionBy Matt Bouchard
Greetings, fellow members of the Construction Law Section, and welcome to the 2020-2021 bar year! It is my honor and privilege to serve as Chair this year and to work with an outstanding group of council members, committee co-chairs, and NCBA staff to reward your Section membership with top-notch programming, activities, content, and other benefits, all aimed at adding meaningful value to your law practices and professional development.
Like the clients and the industry that we serve, our Section will face unique challenges in the months ahead as North Carolina and the country at-large continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Those challenges include safely providing the same excellent CLE programming that has served as the cornerstone of our Section’s offerings each year. Toward that end, our CLE Committee is working diligently to transition its Summer 2020 program, originally scheduled for in-person presentation in Wilmington, to a webcast format. I urge all of you to mark your respective calendars for the Committee’s “Laying the Foundation, Brick by Brick” CLE webcast the afternoon of Thursday, September 24 and all day Friday, September 25. This not-to-be-missed “sticks-and-bricks” program will focus on a range of construction practices presented by industry experts as well as your Section cohorts, with sessions focused on zoning and other regulatory issues, civil and structural engineering, building envelope considerations, and much more (including Jay Wilkerson’s always anticipated case law update). Please watch this space for additional details soon. And since your calendars are now open, go ahead and mark Thursday, February 18, 2021, for our Winter CLE program and Annual Meeting, to be held in-person (fingers crossed!) at the Bar Center in Cary. Again, details to follow.
Read more
Education Decisions in the Wake of COVID-19
Juvenile Justice & Children's RightsFellow advocates,
I write to provide a few updates and red flags regarding plans for the upcoming school year in light of ongoing coronavirus spikes.
These updates are directly relevant to any education clients you currently have in your offices, and also to any other clients who may have school-aged children in the home.
Read more
Checking In: July 14, 2020
Checking InCompiled by Jessica Junqueira
New Hires
Zac Bolitho is now of counsel with Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog LLP in Raleigh. He will practice with the White Collar & Criminal Defense Group. Prior to joining the firm, Bolitho was an Associate Deputy Attorney General and the Chief of Staff to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Bolitho serves as an Associate Professor of Law at Campbell Law School in Raleigh. He received a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from the University of Mount Union, and a Juris Doctorate, summa cum laude, from The Ohio State University.
Morningstar Law Group announced that Marie Farmer is now an associate attorney with the firm. She will practice in the Litigation Practice Group. Prior to Morningstar Law, Farmer was a legal fellow at the University of North Carolina’s Office of Legal Counsel. There, she offered litigation support and assisted in a variety of areas, including constitutional, healthcare, employment, and intellectual property law. Farmer obtained a Juris Doctorate from the University of North Carolina School of Law, and she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Law and Philosophy from the University of Florida.
Smith Anderson welcomes Mark Griffith, a corporate attorney, to the firm. Griffith will work with the Energy and Renewable Energy and M&A practice teams. He has significant experience in energy transactions, economic development and matters related to financial institutions. Prior to Smith Anderson, Griffith practiced with Troutman Sanders. He serves on the chamber of commerce and has taught a course on renewable energy transactions at UNC School of Law. Griffith graduated from the University of North Carolina, with honors, where he received a Bachelor of Arts, and from UNC School of Law, with honors, where he earned a Juris Doctorate.
Read more
N.C. Marks an Important Moment for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice
Criminal JusticeBy Josh Stein
Tomorrow, July 10, will be the first convening of the Governor’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, which I am co-chairing with Justice Anita Earls.
This Task Force has been created to examine our criminal justice system through a lens of racial equity. In North Carolina, we have long sought to improve our criminal justice system. Now, we have the opportunity—the imperative—to explicitly consider racial equity as we continue this effort.
The inequities that African Americans experience—whether it’s in the economy, health care, our schools, or the criminal justice system—are pervasive, just as they are wrong. Even today, African Americans are suffering death at a greatly disproportionate rate from COVID-19 due to longstanding inequities.
Read more